New 1/4 Mile Personal Best

I signed up for a drag strip rental that took place this past Sunday (Jan. 27, 2013), hoping for some cooler weather. The cooler weather didn't really happen, but I still had a good time. Even managed to get a new personal best.

Car Details: 2009 335i Coupe, Automatic transmission.Mods: JB4 (8/21/2012 firmware), BMS DCI, and about a 40% E85 mixed with 93 octane.
All runs were started in 2nd gear with a brake boost.
I got 21 runs in over the course of the day, letting the car cool for a while in between sets of hot laps. Heat soak was a big issue for me since I had over an hour drive to get to the track and am running the stock intercooler. Most runs were in the 12.4 - 12.6 range, with trap speeds between 106 and 111. The hot air was definitely slowing me down, though. Below are the three best runs of the day for me.

First run of the day ended up being the best. 12.173 @ 109.49 mph. Here's the slip:

Although the slip says it was about a 2000 RPM start, it was probably closer to 2500 as I wasn't paying too much attention to it initially. The DA for this run was about 905 according to the Dragtimes calculator.

The two next best runs were the following:

12.337 @ 109.34 mph

and:

12.299 @ 111.55 mph

The DA on the 12.337 run was around 958 and the DA for the 12.299 run was around 1083.

Overall, the car did pretty well. There were a couple runs that seemed like they were going to go even better, but the car was getting hot and the IAT was getting up around 180 on the top end of the track. Next mod is definitely going to be an aftermarket intercooler.

Nice times considering the traps are somewhat low. I am hoping to break into the 11's this thursday now that my pro-tune is done. Any launch tips for me? Specifically how you you keep from spinning 2nd the entire gear.

Nice times considering the traps are somewhat low. I am hoping to break into the 11's this thursday now that my pro-tune is done. Any launch tips for me? Specifically how you you keep from spinning 2nd the entire gear.

Originally Posted by WDBi

what is your launch procedure those are pretty good 60' times? what tires are you on?

I think my trap speeds are a bit low due to the high IAT after the 1/8th mile. The car feels like it isn't accelerating as quickly and the IAT quickly approaches 180*.

As for the launch technique, I turn off all traction control and put the car into manual mode and into second gear. I press the break down and start depressing the gas pedal until I get to around 2500 - 3000 RPM. (I will vary this depending on the track conditions, as I started to burnout on one run while I was staged as the track was getting a little slick towards the end of the day and I was unable to hook as I did earlier on.) Once I launch, I lift off of the brake and roll into full throttle quickly, but not just mashing the gas down. Be sure to avoid the kick down, as hitting that will ruin your run.

Originally Posted by nafoo

Did you get any runs in against the Vishnu ST? Would have been a very close race

I saw him running and spoke to him a bit, but we did not line up. Would have been fun, but his car is much faster than mine (just look at the difference in trap speed). He was having issues with the launch and some other issues during the run. It sucks as I was looking forward to seeing his car run some good times and high trap speeds.

I saw him running and spoke to him a bit, but we did not line up. Would have been fun, but his car is much faster than mine (just look at the difference in trap speed). He was having issues with the launch and some other issues during the run. It sucks as I was looking forward to seeing his car run some good times and high trap speeds.

I'm thinking you would have been ahead for most of the run and he would reel you in at the very last moment right before the finish. His traps were high, but his ETs were right around yours ;P

I forgot to add that I weighed the car at the track. Came in at 3,532 lbs without me, and 3,732 lbs with me in it. I had a 1/4 tank of gas in the car.

Originally Posted by RnmEvo9

That ET is ridiculous for the low trap speed. Definitely get an intercooler on there and it should help out immensely.

It will definitely be my next mod. I just need to figure out which one would resist heat soak the best, and recover fastest. I swear I could feel the car accelerating slower on the back half of the track than it was in the 1/8th mile.